This evening, the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered a 24-hour halt in flights to Israel, because of a rocket that landed on Yehud, a town close to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, this morning.
Earlier today, Delta Airlines and US Airways halted flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice. They join Korean Air and Norwegian, which have stopped flying to Israel because of the security situation.
Delta flight 268 from New York's JFK Airport to Tel Aviv carrying 273 passengers and 17 crew landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Delta is trying to find alternative flights for the Tel Aviv-bound passengers.
US airline United has also announced that all its Israel flights have been cancelled for the next 24 hours, and a flight that was scheduled to depart at midnight tonight will take off from Israel empty.
"Globes" has learned that the Lufthansa group will also cancel flights to and from Israel, for the next 36 hours. An official announcement is expected this evening. The group includes Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines. Lufthansa is one of the main foreign airlines operating to Tel Aviv.
KLM and Air France have also suspended their Israel operations.
An aviation industry source told "Globes", "All this is happening because of a rocket fired today at Yehud, close to Ben Gurion Airport. This is a terrible deterioration of the situation."
Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz this evening called on US airlines to resume their normal flight schedule, saying that Ben Gurion Airport was safe, and that there was no fear for aircraft or their passengers. "There is no reason that American carriers in particular should stop flights and give a reward to terrorism," the minister said.
The Israel Airline Pilots Association said this evening in response to the cancellation of flights to Israel, "It's important to us that the people of the State of Israel should know that they have someone on whom they can rely. The advantage of the Israeli pilot, who flies and will continue to fly to and from Israel no matter what the situation, is now clearer than ever. Not just when everything is pleasant and easy in the Open Skies, but also at moments of crisis, in the face of challenges and the enemy's attempts to disrupt the lives of Israel's people. Unfortunately, at the moment of truth, foreign airlines and pilots turn tail and avoid flying to Israel perhaps it's convenient for them to do so.
"At times like these, the Israeli international carriers put on extra flights to and from Israel, causing a heavy workload on the commercial pilots. After Operation Protective Edge began, we therefore readied ourselves for cases in which foreign pilots and airlines would refuse to fly to Israel, in order to prevent situations in which Israelis would be stuck overseas."
Israel Tourist and Travel Agents Association director Yossi Fattal wrote to Katz today urging him to order the immediate operation of Ovda Airport north of Eilat as an alternative to Ben Gurion.
The FAA has prohibited US airlines from flying to other conflict zones, such as Iraq and Syria, and also now to Ukraine, after pro-Russian rebels in East Ukraine shot down a Malaysian Airlines plane last Thursday.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 22, 2014
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